Getting the Jump on College.

How to pile up credits without piling up bills

You're going to college and you think you'll be out in four years with a degree. Not necessarily so. Since 1990, studies have shown, a growing number of entering first-year students either drop out or take more than four years to earn a degree. In fact, U.S. News & Worm Report's annual college ranking now uses a six-year graduation pattern for national and liberal arts universities in reporting their standings of degree achievement.

The reasons some students do not cross the degree finish line before they turn 22 are many, not the least of which are financial. Tuition, even at a publicly funded college, is not cheap, and living expenses while attending college continue to rise. Scholarships or other financial aid may run out after four years. (Planning and funding are a little behind the facts.) Then there's transportation, phone calls and trips home, and laundry that used to be done free at home. Independent students must assume their own health care costs and buy their own dancewear. Dancers often take time off for auditions, touting or short-term contract work, so their attendance may be broken--and lengthened. The list goes on and the dollars add up. The bottom line here is that more time spent in college costs more money. The other side of that coin is that the faster you can earn your degree, the more money you will save.

So why not start accumulating units even before you enter the college of your choice? There are several ways to do this.

"Advanced Placement exams," suggests Lea Wolf, now a successful San Francisco Bay Area choreographer. Wolf graduated with a BA from Stanford University in less than four years because she scored high enough on APs to earn college credits. Designed specifically for high school students who wish to earn college credit before enrollment, Advanced Placement examinations in thirteen subject areas are administered by the College Board, the same organization that gives the Scholastic Aptitude Tests that are required for admission to many universities.

Successfully passing portions of the Graduate Record Examination also may be accepted for substantial credit toward a bachelor's degree by many nontraditional degree programs. Acceptance at this level varies from college to college, so be sure to check with your intended program before signing up to take it. The ninety-minute GREs are administered by the Educational Testing Service at various sites across the United States, including a computer-adjustable (the computer increases difficulty with each correct answer) version at many Sylvan Learning Centers nationwide.

There are several other recognized equivalency exams, and you need not take them before you enroll in a college program. CLEP (College-Level Examination Program) and PEP (Proficiency Examination Program) administer exams in seventy-five subject areas that prove equivalent mastery of a subject area as if you had taken the class in a traditional manner. CLEP, ninety-minute multiple-choice tests in thirty subject areas, is administered by the College Entrance Examination Board (College Board). PEP, three- or four-hour tests in more than forty subjects, is given by the American College Testing Program throughout North America and by special arrangement anywhere in the world. It is also offered through New York's Regents External Degree program at Albany, New York. DANTES (Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support) tests are equivalency exams available for military personnel.

At some schools, credit toward graduation may be attained by simply taking and passing the final exam of a course even if you're not enrolled as a student at that school. Large reputable programs are offered through Ohio University in Athens (Course Credit by Examination program), and the Independent Study program through the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

There are, of course, fees for taking all these exams, but most costs are in the $50 to $100 range, not counting travel to a testing center or costs of commercial test preparation or tutoring.

If testing your brains out is not your thing, you can still shave off thousands of dollars from the escalating cost of college tuition in other ways: concurrent enrollment in college and high school; correspondence courses and distance learning courses available on audio- and videotapes, online, television and combinations thereof; credit for foreign academic experience; and credit for life experience learning, which is now awarded through most nontraditional or independent study degree programs.

More than fifteen years in operation, the University of Utah's High School/University Program offers the opportunity for concurrent enrollment, allowing high school students with high GPAs to begin taking some college classes before they graduate. Barbara Hamlin, who chairs the ballet department, says her program accommodates two to ten students at any one time who may earn up to eight credit hours each term. There must be a signed agreement between the University and the student's high school principal for released time. Though a model program, it's not unique. So-called open program community colleges--where no high school diploma is required of "mature students who can profit by the instruction"--often allow pre-graduate applicants to earn lower-division credits. High school students can take classes that fulfill core requirements, such as language, math, history and basic sciences, that are usually fulfilled during the first two years of college. Community college fees are usually low. But even if the tuition cost per unit seems high, remember all those extra living expenses you don't have to pay while you're still at home.

Doubling up with concurrent enrollment is not for everyone, especially students who are employed or are especially busy with activities outside of school, such as performing. You, and your family and teachers, must weigh the costs and benefits of the time spent versus the dollars spent, and when you choose to pay the costs.

Horror stories abound of another year spent (literally) at college because you're six credits short of what is required to graduate in your degree field. Maybe the requirements changed while you took a semester off. Maybe you just couldn't get registered in the classes you need, like lab sciences. Eagerness to pursue courses in your major may have caused you to overlook some other required areas. Your six units might cost you another $20,000 plus.

Consider applying for life experience credits--yes, even if you're young. How about that Red Cross swimming or CPR certificate you had to get to be a lifeguard, or the family "better health" class your HMO offered? How about a paper on the history of Puerto Rico, where you spent two days while the cruise ship restocked? Can you get credit for the hard work you put in preparing and cramming for the exams you took to get advance credit? If your family spoke Spanish at home, can you get credit for a second language proficiency? (Sorry, ballet French alone is not usually enough.)

Counselors and college catalogues tell you the main story, but not all the alternatives. Read the fine print, search the Web, ask for individual attention and special treatment, and explore all your options. Push the envelope of what's possible. If it's not illegal, ask for those credits that will bring you closer to your degree goal.

Don't go blindly! Make sure that whatever efforts you make toward educating yourself count for credit, and that the credits will be transferable to an accredited, degree-granting school. Your time and money won't be wasted since you will have learned something--that is the goal of education, after all. But if your focus is to save time and money on your college degree, make sure your efforts will count toward fulfilling your college requirements as well as contributing to your own education.